News
Eagle 360 -- An Environmental Protection Agency rule—which by 2016 is supposed
to reduce hazardous emissions from power plants by 90 percent—is in effect today
thanks to a failed Senate vote in June. A YouTube video is calling out 5 Republican senators
whose votes were instrumental in overcoming a bill to stop implementation of
the rule.

The
rule is called Utility
MACT (Maximum Achievable Control Technology) and requires power plants four
years from now to emit no more mercury than the best 12 percent of utility plants
emit in 2012. That means emissions will be cut an estimated 90 percent.

What
it also means is that the oldest coal-fired plants must be closed. It ends
Clean Air Act clauses that grandfathered operation of the old plants because so
many industries and communities were and are dependent on them. Oil-fired
plants also come under the rule but the amount of electricity generated by such
plants is miniscule. Nearly half of America’s electricity comes on line via
coal-fired plants.

“The
U MACT is the most expensive rule in EPA history,” the YouTube video declares
and names the GOP senators instrumental in its passage. Viewers are encouraged
to sign an online petition at epakillsjobs.com. 
Producer of the video is Freedom Works, the political activist group dating
back nearly 30 years that favors lower taxes and smaller government.

The
video is prominently displayed at www.NewsEagle360.com,
the popular online news source. Freedom Works and NewsEagle are partnering
to provide political news to the public this campaign year. Chaired by former
House Majority Leader Dick Armey, Freedom Works has been called “one of the
most influential groups in American politics today.”

The
effect of U MACT is increased electricity rates, according to The American
Public Power Association. “The implications of this rule will stretch from
industrial customers all the way down to residential customers and both sectors
will most definitely see a rise in electricity rates as a result,” says Mark
Crisson, CEO of the association.

If
so, disgruntled electricity consumers/voters may pull the plug on Republican
Senators Scott Brown, Kelly Ayotte, Lamar Alexander, and Susan Collins. Olympia
Snowe is retiring in 2012.